Two-year-old Emma wanted to play with blocks, but a condition called arthrogryposis meant she couldn’t move her arms. So researchers at a Delaware hospital “3D printed” a durable custom exoskeleton with the tiny, lightweight parts she needed.
Emma’s story illustrates the new age of manufacturing that is dawning upon us. This new age is powered by a technology called “3D Printing”, that is printing in three dimensions. 3D printers are able to “print” custom built parts by additive processes so that an object is created by laying down successive layers of material. Unlike traditional machining techniques that work by removing material from a block, 3D printing relies on building a part by the additive process.
The medical use of this technology is mindboggling. In Emma’s case an external prothestic was built using 3D Printing. But the day is not far when one may create brand new organs to be used in transplants. This could be accomplished by using a 3D printer to build an organic, polymeric scaffolding in the shape of the organ or tissue that needs to be replicated. This is then populated with stem cells drawn from the person needing the organ, and have the organ ready for transplant in a few days once the cells have filled out the entire structure. This could be used for creating organs such as kidney, heart, lungs, etc., within a matter of days or weeks. No need to wait for donors or worry about organ rejection!
Related:
Will 3D Printing Change The World?
Printing a bicycle with a 3D Printing
Can 3D Printers Reshape The World?
3D Printing at MIT Media Lab
Credits: This is a You-tube video released in the public-domain.